Clippers guard Jamal Crawford gets masked by ingenuity

BOSTON - When it comes to the mask Clippers guard Jamal Crawford wore Sunday to protect his fractured nose against the Boston Celtics, this wasn't the case of modern medicine or technology ruling the day.

Just an example of good old-fashioned ingenuity.

It wasn't on par with the NASA control room devising instruments on the fly to help get Apollo 13 home safely, but Clippers trainer Jason Powell deserves plenty of credit for coming up with the contraption that allowed Crawford to play Sunday with some peace of mind.

"He made it out of scratch," marveled Crawford, who was so unsure he'd come up with suitable protection it wasn't until he arrived at the arena Sunday before he decided if he could play or not.

That he did is a tribute to Powell, the longtime Clippers trainer who built the face mask between practice Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

With the game falling on a weekend and Crawford fracturing his nose Friday in Toronto, there was little time or opportunity to seek out professional help from a medical supply company. That meant Powell and Crawford had to put their heads together to come up with a gadget that protected Crawford's nose but also provided ample breathing room and did not distract him from playing basketball.

The final result was something straight out of Hannibal Lecter and "Silence of the Lambs," but it did the job and that's all that counts.

"I've never had anything on my face before, but it feels OK. Jason did a great job," Crawford said.

Crawford was skeptical based on what he was working with the previous night.

"We were messing around with stuff last night and I didn't have this," Crawford said, pointing to the face mask. "I can show you pictures of the other stuff, but it didn't look like this."

By the time he arrived Sunday at TD Garden, though, the new and improved mask was at his locker ready for us. Thanks to Powell, of course.

"He's gifted," Crawford said.

Not that it lasted long. Crawford ditched the mask by the second quarter.

"It felt kind of funny," he said.

When Crawford was called for an offensive foul with 26.6 seconds remaining and the Clippers trailing the Celtics by two, Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro had a big question on his hands.

Do you foul the Celtics early in their ensuing possession, put them at the free-throw line and try to extend the game that way, or do you defend the balance of the 24-second shot clock, force a miss, get the rebound and set yourself up for a last-second shot?

Del Negro chose not to foul, and the result was Paul Pierce dribbling out the balance of the shot clock and at the last possible moment stepping back from his defender and sinking a three-pointer to essentially put the Clippers away.

"I wouldn't have wanted to foul him there," Del Negro said. "You know, it was right on the number and we've done it both ways. If we get a stop there, three or four seconds to go we've got plenty of time, two-point game.

"If I was to do it I would have fouled Courtney Lee when he got the ball but you play the percentages. We went back and forth with it. We just felt we could get it down."

Paul still out

It wasn't official Sunday, but Del Negro did not sound optimistic Chris Paul would return tonight against the Washington Wizards.

"I don't expect that," Del Negro said.

The Clippers do think Paul will return at some point on their trip, with Wednesday's game at Orlando or Friday's in Miami the likeliest possibilities.